The Salem Witch Trials
by MinteaFresha
Summary: A short Peabody's Improbable History adventure involving a woman being accused of witchcraft. This is basically a script for a witch episode, because I like witch episodes of time travel stuff. I hope to write a darker version of this, to match the father-son thing in the movie.


Sherman was drawing at his desk in his room when he heard a faint knock on the door on the other side of the room. "Come in," Sherman said without looking up. He knew who it was, of course. Nobody else was in the penthouse today.

"Are you ready, Sherman?" a familiar voice rang out.

Sherman's face lit up and he turned in his chair to face Mr. Peabody. "Oh! Yeah, I almost forgot." He put down his pencil and joined Mr. Peabody on the way to the room where the WABAC machine was. Yesterday, Mr. Peabody told Sherman that they would be using the WABAC the next day. "Where to today?" Sherman asked.

"Salem, Massachusetts. 1692," Mr. Peabody replied. "An intriguing time of the Puritan pilgrims in colonial America."

Soon enough, Mr. Peabody and Sherman were traveling through time. They entered the home of Samuel Parris, a Village minister in Salem. Parris appeared to be looking for something underneath chairs, tables, beds, and other articles of furniture.

Mr. Peabody cleared his throat. "Mr. Parris, may I ask what it is you are looking for?"

Samuel Parris, in an attempt in turning around to answer, instead hit his head on the underside of a nightstand. "Ow!" He emerged from underneath the nightstand and, rubbing his head, stood and turned to find the dog and his boy standing before him. "I am looking for my daughter, Betty. Have you seen her?"

Sherman took the liberty to speak up. "Nope. What has she been doing? Maybe you're not looking in the right places."

"She just ate breakfast," Samuel informed them. "Then she just ran off who knows where!" He put his hands on his hips and shook his head. "Tsk tsk, she's getting quite jumpy these days."

Just then, six year-old Betty ran into the room and dove under a low coffee table. She moaned, "I've got a fever, Papa…!" Her father quickly switched from a perturbed countenance to a concerned one. Mr. Peabody went over to the little girl and felt her forehead. "Hmm, she doesn't seem to have a temperature…"

Samuel Parris gasped. "If she isn't naturally sick, then this must be the work of a witch!"

Sherman said, "Who could it be…?"

After thinking for a moment, Betty shrieked, "I KNOW! It could be Tituba, our slave. She always tells me stories about voodoo and witchcraft."

Samuel said, "Well what are we waiting for? Let's go see Tituba."

The foursome found Tituba in the kitchen, finishing up cleaning after the morning meal. "Hey, I see you got yourselves a dog..." She produced a pastry from behind her and waved it in front of Mr. Peabody's face. "Want this, doggie? Huh?"

Mr. Peabody pushed her hand away. "First of all, my name is Mr. Peabody. Secondly, I will not tolerate such treatment." Tituba dropped the small cake in surprise. Mr. Peabody eyed it in disgust. It looked like a week-old gourd that belonged in a compost heap. "What is_ in that_, exactly?"

"Rye, butter, salt, eggs… the usual-" Tituba looked at Betty. "And urine..."

Sherman spluttered, "Did she say what I just heard her say?!"

Mr. Peabody smirked. "That all depends on what you heard."

Tituba explained that a cake containing the urine of a victim given to the dog would cure Betty.

"Utter nonsense," Samuel snorted. He pondered for a moment. "Wait a minute…" He accusingly pointed at Tituba. "You sound a lot like you are in on this… this SCHEME."

Tituba innocently put her hands up. "I-I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just trying to help the girl out."

Samuel's glare burned with confidence. "Aha! Denial. I smell a witch among us!" Samuel took Tituba by the wrist and dragged her out the front door, with Betty following after like a duckling after its mother.

"Where are they going, Mr. Peabody?" Sherman asked.

"They're going to Town Hall, to have Tituba tried for witchcraft. We must waste no time!" Mr. Peabody believed in justice and he did not want to have anyone punished for the wrong reasons. Mr. Peabody and Sherman went after Samuel Parris to investigate the trial.

At the courthouse, Tituba stood before the judge, with Samuel and his daughter not far away. Other supposed "victims," of the same symptoms as Betty, stood close by as well.

Samuel offered his say. "This woman has managed witchcraft upon my child! She made my little Betty this way…" He motioned to Betty, who was crying from pain. "And she tried to undo it to cover her tracks… by using even more witchcraft!"

Because of the gullibility of the people, Tituba was later proved guilty of witchcraft. She was dragged away into custody until the next day, when the citizens of Salem would gather at the gallows to watch her hanging.

After everyone had departed, Mr. Peabody spoke with the judge. "Your honor, I believe it would be more fair if you tested Tituba's abilities as a witch." The judge agreed and scheduled a testing ceremony for that afternoon.

Mr. Peabody went to Sherman. "Alright, Sherman, we're going to need a tube and a duck!" Sherman hadn't the faintest idea what they needed those for, but he helped Mr. Peabody anyway. Sherman found a tube-like stick and he helped Mr. Peabody catch a duck. Luckily for them, it was duck season.

Just before the testing, Mr. Peabody hid in the lake. He could easily poke his long nose above the water, allowing him to breathe. He held the duck in one paw and the tube in the other. Above where Mr. Peabody was hiding, Sherman stood on the ledge overlooking the lake, where the testing would be held.

The testing soon began. The judge said, "If this woman is a witch, she will float like a duck. If she is not, she will be too heavy, drown, and die."

"Well, isn't that pointless," Sherman muttered.

The judge continued, "Only witches can render themselves so light, in order to save themselves."

They dropped the tied-up Tituba into the lake. When she plunged underwater, Mr. Peabody grabbed her, threw the duck over the surface, and gave Tituba the tube to breathe underwater.

Sherman saw the duck; this was his cue! He pointed and exclaimed, "The witch has turned herself_ into_ a duck!"

The crowd talked amongst themselves. The judge made a decision. "This must mean only one thing: Tituba is completely capable of witchcraft!" They took the duck and killed it in the morning. Of course, they did not eat it. That would be awfully awkward.

Thus, Tituba was saved, and also freed from slavery under the Parris family. She started a new life in the next town.

Returning home in the WABAC, Mr. Peabody told Sherman, "Considering that the people of Salem believed that the duck was someone it wasn't, you could say that the duck was…" Mr. Peabody stopped and smirked.

Sherman was waiting. "I don't know. What?"

"You could say it was... a quack!" Mr. Peabody finished, as he set the controls for the present. Sherman laughed and then suddenly stopped.

"Wait, a quack?"


End file.
